here are two pictures. one was taken right after I got over mononucleosis. I was 140lbs, extremely pale, and very weak. I then decided to go vegan. the other picture was taken recently. I am now 160lbs. 20 lb vegan muscle gain!

yeah, it's not the same guy...but it's the same place!!! You got that waterfall in your backyard or what?

Awesome work, Hero! could you give some more information on how long the time span is between those pics, did you eat some special stuff (creatin or sth), did you have a special food plan (6 meals a day or sth. like that)?
That would be really interesting...

the pictures were taken at hickory run state park. its about 15 minutes from me. thats why I love pennsylvania. we have parks everywhere.

there's a 2 year difference between those pictures.

I did not consume any special stuff. I dont consider that stuff special.
I am all natural and get all the energy I need from food sources. I'm just really into nutrition so I know what to eat and what will make me grow. I dont know what sth is. but creatine I have never touched and never will. I believe in hard work and smart training, not supplementation.

I eat about 6-8 meals a day. I take in 200-300g protein a day, and about 3,000-4,000 calories.

Hey Topher, you say you don't take creatine etc, but you do consume protein shakes right? What is in those? I take soy shakes, about once a day or so. I wouldn't want to take creatine or anything like that either.

brendan wrote:Topher, I think you have some damn good genetics or something cause in your so-called "before" pics, you still look pretty ripped.

that's cause I lost 30 lbs due to mononucleosis for 9 months. I had zero percent bodyfat. I almost died. so thats why im so ripped. lol. I was just happy to be outside again after 9 months of being bedridden. look how pale I was! eek

I used to be a fat kid when I was born. then I got into gynmnastics and got really strong and ripped. then I stopped and was overly skinny up til highschool due to soccer and all the running I did. it sucks cause it looks like im in shape but I never had good genetics, I always had something wrong with me.

Richard wrote:Hey Topher, you say you don't take creatine etc, but you do consume protein shakes right? What is in those? I take soy shakes, about once a day or so. I wouldn't want to take creatine or anything like that either.

correct. I just tried creatine for a week and it gave me heart palpitations so I stopped.

I didnt consume protein shakes until after I took this waterfall picture.

all my muscle I gained from food. in fact protein shakes did nothing but make me feel bloated and sick.

I just made sure to eat about 4,000 calories a day, and 200-300g of protein a day.

it consisted of an entire bag of thomas's bagels, 2 packages of jumbo smart dogs, some ground up boca burgers, wholewheat spaghetti w/ veggies, and entire carton of chocolate soymilk, strawberries, blueberries, peanutbutter, pretzels, raw carrots and some other foods in one day.